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National Ranking?
Posted On 03 Apr 2012
Corbett School District – AP for All
This image was from Randy Trani’s 2009 presentation “Starting an AP Program from Scratch” you can download the PDF by selecting this image.
National Ranking has played a large part in growing our district’s size and reputation. It has been used to persuade the public, our parents and board members to trust the administration and allow the expansion of our school population, the implementation of non-traditional educational practices; Imaginative Education and the creation and expansion of at least one Charter School in Corbett… and now a new STEM school. ( As of January of 2015 the State of Oregon has revoked the STEM ID – read here. )
Taglines like “Best in the Nation” are used to describe Corbett School District (CSD) but actually the ranking is specific only to our high school and the criteria that gives us the highest ranking is based on the total number of AP tests purchased and taken and not actual test scores or performance. Corbett purchases over 1,000 AP tests ( as of 2013-14) and has a graduating class of around 80 students at that time.
CSD State Ranking?
CSD actually ranks below the state average (as a district) as of the 2012-2013 state report cards.
The CSD school board voted (in August 2014) on policy language to give the district the option NOT to notify parents about their student’s achievement measured against Oregon State standards per HB2220. (CSD does not assign any letter grades K-8 and does not assign D’s or F’s in high school.)
Overall, Oregon ranked 40th for academic achievement in the nation as of 2014 – and CSD is ranked below Oregon’s state average – but we are “Nationally Ranked?” http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2014/01/oregon_ranks_no_40_in_student.html
Newsweek, Washington Post and US News
Until 2011, Newsweek’s National ranking was calculated by the total number of AP tests taken by a high school, divided by the number of graduating seniors. This ranking index had nothing to do with how well our students did on these tests.
2006 – Corbett was ranking at 584th
2007- Corbett ranked 217th
2008 – Corbett ranked 86th
2009 – Corbett ranked 8th
2010 – Corbett ranked 5th
2011 – Not listed at all?
What happened ?
When the index criteria changed at Newsweek to consider more than just the number of tests taken, Corbett School District started advertising the Washington Post’s results and claimed that they chose not to submit their information to Newsweek. The Washington Post now uses Newsweek’s old criteria where we still rank top in the nation based on the number of tests taken divided by the number of graduating seniors. Link here.
National Ranking Criteria
All three magazines weight heavily participation in AP/IB/AICE (college readiness tests) by graduates but have slightly different ranking systems. They all pertain only to high school and are not meant to describe a school district as a whole.
WASHINGTON POST ( 2014: CSD ranks 15th )
The “Challenge Index” takes the total number of college-level tests given at a high school in the previous calendar year divided by the number of graduates. Link here to criteria: http://apps.washingtonpost.com/local/highschoolchallenge/
NEWSWEEK ( 2013: CSD ranks 58th )
We were listed as 5th in the nation in 2010 when the criteria was still based on total tests divided by graduates as with the Washington Post. The new criteria is as follows: Graduation rate (25 percent), college matriculation (registration) rate (25 percent), AP/IB/AICE tests taken per student (25 percent), average SAT/ACT scores (10 percent), average AP/IB/AICE scores (10 percent), and AP courses offered per student (5 percent) Based on the criteria listed online in 2013 by newsweek.com.
US NEWS AND WORLD REPORTS ( 2014: CSD ranks 126th )
A three part methodology. The determining factor being AP/IB test data. in CSD’s case, we easily pass the first 2 criteria and our AP participation rate is 100% with each senior taking on average almost 7 AP tests.) Based on the criteria listed online in 2013 by usnews.com.
Corbett School District’s AP Edge
* Information from December 2016
CSD is an “AP for All” high school.
CSD requires all students (grades 9-12) take AP courses.
CSD requires each student complete 6 AP classes to graduate. (Screen print from CSD web site)
CSD purchased around 1,000 AP tests ( on the taxpayers in 2013-2014 ) for a graduating class of about 80 students. Also we purchase SAT tests and allow students to prep and take these tests during the school day. In other districts this would be done outside of the school day.
CSD students pass less than half of these AP tests with a 3 or better and only a percentage of all these AP tests go for actual college credit.
CSD now requires college admittance, among others, to graduate. This college requirement is another criteria added to the methodology by Newsweek magazine. Read here.
CSD even requires Special Needs kids to take AP classes.
CSD’s current grading policy does not assign D’s or F’s in high school.
CSD assigns no letter grades at all until high school as a district.
CSD is a continuous progress model.
CSD will graduate any student that tries his/her best and has made progress.
CSD attracts academically motivated students who were privately educated or went to primary or middle school elsewhere before coming to CSD.
* The “AP for All” focused high school in Corbett gives high achieving students the opportunity to earn college credits and thrive. Many of these students, from “Phonics Factory” as one example, have become AP scholars and been accepted in top level colleges and universities, like Dartmouth.
Must be registered in College to graduate from high school ? New Graduation Requirement
Like with our AP for All Program ( or SAT tests ) our district will pay for tests for students to apply to be accepted to college. Those not planning on college will apply with our local community college, Mt. Hood CC. ALL HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES are accepted into the MHCC program – so while learning to fill out a college application could easily be taught in a class as part of the curriculum, we are taking things a step further in actually admitting our high school students, whether they plan to attend college, or not. More here on this discussion on the Corbett Oregon web site Forum.
How it all started in CSD
” Making AP a mandatory program was a calculated move ” – Randy Trani ( From a College Board article where the CSD Superintendent made this statement in 2010. ) The past superintendent is now the Director of the Charter School in Corbett. High School Charter and District students shared classrooms and teachers in a single high school in Corbett Oregon until the 2014/2015 school year.
Today
We have doubled our school district population in the last few years . What was once a small community school in Corbett is now something very different and it has divided our close knit community. Over half of the students in our district are transported in and out of Corbett each day, because they do not live here. Select here for an op-ed that was focused on Corbett’s Ap for All program.
National Ranking Articles and Opinions
“Rank Foolishness” | NASSP Web Site – (National Assoc. of secondary school principals)
“…If the public is going to naturally conclude that the rankings indicate that schools are better and schools are going to use the rankings to perpetuate the same inaccuracy then WPost should introduce into the index a calculation of how well students do on the exams.”
Select here to read an article describing the problems with Jay Matthew’s National Ranking Index.
” What is the Value of AP Courses and Tests? ” | Diane Ravitch | May 2013
http://dianeravitch.net/2013/05/16/what-is-the-value-of-ap-courses-and-tests/
” Actually we can also all thank Jay Matthew’s rating game in mass publications for an additional incentive to spark kids to take too many AP courses and exams, not for the intrinsic love of a subject, but only to be put on the right pile of applicants to the select colleges they seek to enter….
We can also thank the School districts who want to raise real estate values by advertising how many AP courses they offer, and how high they are on Matthews’ rankings. ”
“AP Classes are a Scam” | John Tierney | The Atlantic | Oct 2012
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/ap-classes-are-a-scam/263456/
” The College Board earns over half of all its revenues from the courses — and, in an uncertain environment, students keep being suckered…. But it shouldn’t be the customer’s responsibility to stop a scam. The customer buys into it because the con artist is so skillful and the world is so uncertain. The only way to stop the College Boards of the world is to expose them. Tell people to be wary.”
“Many critics lay the blame on the College Board itself, a huge “non-profit” organization that operates like a big business. The College Board earns over half of all its revenues from its Advanced Placement program — more than all its other revenue streams (SATs, SAT subject tests, PSATs) combined.”
Challenging Jay’s Challenge Index | By Valerie Strauss | The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/challenging-jays-challenge-index/2011/05/20/AFzrOz7G_blog.html
” Here’s the rub: There are lots of kids who wouldn’t, and don’t, but are pushed anyway because schools and districts have become fixated on Jay’s list….
Remember that the index considers the number of college level tests that are taken — not the actual courses, nor the score that the students receive.
Every student in a school could flunk — which would more likely indicate a comprehension issue than a mass case of test anxiety — but that institution could still do very well on Jay’s index because it supposedly challenged the students with a college-level class. It may have only served to confuse the kid. ”
“A warning to college profs from a high school teacher”
From an award-winning high school teacher who just retired, Kenneth Bernstein, warns college professors what they are up against. From a February 2013 article: read here. ” I mentioned that at least half my students were in AP classes. The explosive growth of these classes, driven in part by high school rankings like the yearly Challenge Index created by Jay Mathews of The Washington Post, is also responsible for some of the problems you will encounter with students entering your institutions.”
“A lesson in Advanced mis-Placement”
Select here to read an article in the Boston Globe from April 2011. You can also select here to hear the interview on NPR.
One evaluation posted to the Washington Post Challenge Index in 2011 follows:
1. When the public (even educators themselves) view the Challenge Index rankings they naturally associate a higher rank with being a “Better” school – which the public generally conclude means that students perform better and learn more at those schools. This is natural, since that is what the public REALLY wants to know. Furthermore, ranking schools intentionally perpetuate this inaccuracy for their own benefit (I work at the highest ranking school in my state, and I’m part of the PR mechanism that perpetuates the inaccuracy – it’s part of my job.)
2. In my state there has been a big push to have students take the AP Exams, regardless of whether the students are actually prepared to do so. The State requires that every AP students take the exam, and the State even pays for the exam for each student. This obviously inflates the indexes for schools in my state. In my own school I have seen large numbers of students place their heads on their desk and go to sleep within the first 15 minutes of their recently-administered AP exams – yet their “performance” is improving my school’s Challenge ranking, and ultimately our school’s statewide prestige as an educational icon.
3. For years my school has been highly ranked in the US News, and now WPost Challenge rankings. There is a strong effort in the school to offer enroll as many students as possible in AP classes – not only because it is good for the students, but it is good for our rankings. Unfortunately many students are mis-placed in AP classes, and teachers are forced to water-down the curriculum for fear of having too many failing grades and suffering the ire of administrators. This is hardly what the public believes when they see our rankings.
Although I don’t generally advocate for the “tail wagging the dog,” this is a case where it is warranted.
If the public is going to naturally conclude that the Challenge rankings indicate that schools are better (which WILL be the case, no matter how many disclaimers WPost puts on their reports) and schools are going to use the rankings to perpetuate the same inaccuracy (which WILL be the case, in our school and probably every other school on the list), WPost should introduce into the index a calculation of how well students do on the exams.
There are many reasonable options for doing so, while still maintaining the “flavor” of the Challenge Index. ( Link to this here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/alternatives-to-the-challenge-index/2011/05/12/AF3PfM7G_allComments.html?ctab=all_&#comments ). .More from this article by Diane Ravitch |May 16, 2013 at 12:35 pm
“Actually we can also all thank Jay Matthew’s rating game in mass publications for an additional incentive to spark kids to take too many AP courses and exams, not for the intrinsic love of a subject, but only to be put on the right pile of applicants to the select colleges they seek to enter.
We can also thank the School districts who want to raise real estate values by advertising how many AP courses they offer, and how high they are on Matthews’ rankings.
I personally know of two brave high schools who bucked that trend: Fieldston, a private school, and Scarsdale HS which, as far as I know, is the only public HS to do so. For years while teaching at Scarsdale I tried to get my students to realize the choice to take an AP course or not should be based on the intrinsic love of or aptitude for a subject, not the hoped for results of taking as many exams as possible. The data showed how colleges were giving less and less actual advanced placement credit, and that the sheer numbers of over tested applicants made competition even harder. Unfortunately, my plea fell on deaf ears, out shouted by nervous parents and guidance counselors.
Finally enough teachers felt that way that the school pushed to drop most AP courses and eventually I believe all AP designation. Regardless of that decision, students (pressured by parents) still opt for advanced courses that prepare them for those same AP tests even if no AP course is offered.
This testing craze has existed for decades…. When will we ever learn?”
Our Crazy College Crossroads
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/01/opinion/bruni-our-crazy-college-crossroads.html
Its fine to take the number of tests and divide by the number of graduating students, all the kids in the school take the Tests! That produces a skewed number by any standards.
So if the old standard of Newsweek is not used any more due to substandard inaccuracies which was substantiated through peer review (via educators) then why would the Washington Post even use the old system and worst yet, why would Corbett even acknowedge the study? That is embarrassing. One day you are there because you skewed the results or manipulated the numbers and the next day you are exposed! Very interesting, I thought at least Randy would be smarter than that. What a shame. It is almost funny, but it is the children, the parents and the taxpayers that are getting mislead here! Financially raped through taxes for half-truths. I will pray for the day of reckoning and for the people of Corbett so they can have their school district back.
In response to Mr. Dunton’s letter to Corbett Charter Friends
” There is a buzz going around Corbett about accreditation.”
According to who Mr. Dunton?
The Washington Post? Let’s not play dumb, tell half truths or keep your head in the sand. The more you speak the more you expose yourself. Your comment below was rather ignorant, self-centered and obtuse.
Keep talking, you are just going to make it easier.
“Corbett Charter School is about results. It’s not about advertising. It’s not about ’accreditation’. It’s about achievement. And by any measure, Corbett Charter School outperforms virtually every accredited school in Oregon. And those who perform better would never claim that it was due to ’accreditation’. (And they would laugh at the suggestion!)”
” … Accreditation? It is a costly strategy that would move us not one inch in that direction. And with our results, we don’t need an accreditation agency to validate our practices.”
I hope you are not speaking of the results from the Washington Post again? According to the last publication of Newsweek on the Top High Schools in the country, West Linn was the best school in the whole State, nobody else. Just West Linn High, not Corbett Charter High or District High School, yep it was West Linn … are we clear? Not Corbett. Corbet wasn’t even in the top 1000 and Newsweek included the schools only with “results”! In proportion to the size of the school and how many kids graduated, this study showed the schools that honestly outperformed most and who had real “results” not Imaginative Educated ones or skewed ones.
The list in this Newsweek article will not have Corbett Charter or Corbett on it at all. The date of this article is June/2011. Last year NewsWeek upgraded by allowing a peer review board of educators to look at their more accurate way of testing for top schools in the nation. Newsweek hired a rather well educated panel of educators to shake out the inaccuracies. It took the original 3 components of the Challenge Index system (this is the system that the Washington Post now uses and used last year where Corbett came in at 3rd and 16th) and then added 3 more components that more accurately measured High Schools performance levels. Corbet was not even in the Top 500 schools! In fact, the schools that Corbett beat out on the Washington Post study, they all move up 1 or 2 spots because Corbett could not even qualify! So, Corbett in essences was artificially injected into a legitimate list of schools, but when further examined, they didn’t even make the cut! In my opinion, due to the new and more conclusive revamped Challenge index system that Newsweek has created, the old system that the Washington Post uses is obsolete. Most of the other top schools made both list, but Corbett did not. Interesting. (Read the Full Methodology of the revamping of Newsweeks’ evaluations)
Have a nice Spring Break, but why don’t you take a gander at this real study of real high schools that outperformed Corbett. Thank God at least West Linn High stepped up! No Imagination Station here, just real teaching and learning!
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/2011/americas-best-high-schools.html
Joe Horton
jhorton90@aol.com
notalgic …? I looked this word up and the closest I could find was notaligik (translated spelling is sometimes “notalgic” from the “Imaginative Educators” in the city of Travnik, but the origin was that of the mid-1200’s (thus possibly the explanation for the letter “g”. I could not get any other solid facts on this word due to the lack of acceptance of Imaginative Education in Bosnia. I wonder if this is similuar to Imaginative Learning, Corbett’s version of education?
http://apps.washingtonpost.com/highschoolchallenge/schools/2011/list/oregon-schools/
Maybe if you look at Oregon’s list from the Washington Post (link above), your frame of reference won’t be totally blinded by the “real study” of Newsweek.
Did it ever occur to the other respondents that maybe Corbett School and Corbett Charter School did not elect to be in Newsweek’s evaluation in 2011?
The real issue here is not accreditation or rankings, but how to destroy or demean anything going well for Corbett School District. It might just be too much to think that we still make a list, and at the top of it, compared to other schools.
We are all allowed our opinions. I don’t think the end result is according to “Newsweek”, “US News and World Report” (which we were also previously ranked under) or “The Washington Post”, but rather how the students are doing. I am very proud of my own three graduates of Corbett High School, only two of which took AP classes, but all received a great education K-12 at Corbett School and are living their adult lives richer because of their experiences.
NEWSWEEK VS. WASHINGTON POST
Why would Corbett not “elect” to enter into the Newsweek Index where we have boasted our results from for the past 3 plus years? What possible reason would we NOT do this? ( I believe that we knew we would either fall steeply down the list or not list at all due to the upgraded criteria … And since the Washington Post was sticking with the 3 component system where tests “TAKEN” are still heavily weighted, and we could still shine there, we shifted our focus there… and tried to do the same with the public. )
“I GOT MINE!?”
It’s great that your kids experienced a great education in CSD – but sounds likes it has been a while and you were not there for the changes AS A PARENT in the grade school nor as a parent in the Charter. (Our 3rd grade reading scores are the bottom 150 in the state and there is no longer a stand alone K program. http://corbettpost.com/csd-numbers/ .. ) Also, how many families, just since January have left the Charter and why was that? Do you know? In the end, your opinion should not matter more than mine or anyone elses. We should all want to resolve issues as they are addressed ( Not bury them …. or dress them in cloaks of “rumor” )
NO ONE IS TRYING TO DESTROY ANYTHING
Unless honesty would destroy it. And then, just how justified will you feel defending it?
http://corbettpost.com/public-letters/open-letter-from-director-purvine/
ACCREDITATION
“ Besides providing parents regular information about whether or not the school is meeting standards it also provides confidence ( and justification ) when a school and school’s programs are regularly evaluated. It ensures there is always a plan for improvement. No school is perfect and we can all work towards making things better for everyone.” http://corbettpost.com/csd/is-csd-accredited/
ULTIMATELY….
If people have information ( and this site is based on providing information ) then ( as in life and politics ) they can choose to ignore it, belittle the source or sources, attack those that believe it ….or maybe, take pause and consider if maybe we could all work to improve a few things?
Some people seem more interested in defending a reputation than in earning one.
To bird,
I am concerned that you do not give your name and you speak of how well your children did. My child is no longer at Corbett and he is receiving an education (being taught by an accredited institution) and can answer in Spanish in his Spanish class!
At Corbett he was asked to leave because he was labeled “lazy and did not want to learn” unlike your gifted and/or honors student children.
He came from St. Therese and was an average B+ student. We cooperated with Mr. Dunton and his teachers, but they didn’t want to help us or cooperate with us. The arrogance of Bob Dunton was frustrating as well as unprofessional. (Please read our letter on this website that is being presented to the board. It is heartbreaking!) http://corbettpost.com/public-letters/32012-horton/
I am not at all being destructive towards the Corbett School District; instead I am bringing to light the fallacies Bob Dunton and Randi Trani boast so much about. Also I want to help the families of Corbett to get the right help and the education they have the right to.
I didn’t miss the state rating of the Washington Post survey, because of the obvious. It was an inaccurate way of testing. Newsweek recognized their flaws and allowed “it to migrate” over to the Washington Post. So what did Corbett do? They chose a survey that made them look good and then continued the fallacy of being #3 in the nation.
If they choose not to enter Corbett in the Newsweek study, then how can they make the claims that they are “all that”? Newsweek’s study included schools with results, just like what Bob Dunton claims! So why didn’t Bob and Randi submit Corbett? (If they didn’t)…. Apples and …Pickles, not even oranges, is what I think! So is that a fair comparison?
… Umm, I did my homework on this one and presented it to the Corbett post … it appears you have not done due diligence on the matter at hand. You are not aware of what is going on in the lower grades and I don’t think you are witnessing any of what is going on in the bigger picture (charter high school as well). My son’s experience and anyone else’s child should not have to go through the same experiences while attending either Corbett Schools.
I ask you, again, to read my letter on the post and put yourself in our shoes. What would you have done? I am used to being part of the solution and Bob and Randi are really the bigger problem. If your child needs help and you do not have money and your child is not an attractive female, chances are you may not receive any cooperation or assistance. Now, that’s not fair, right? (I ask all who read this to read my letter of our experiences with Corbett Charter School. Corbett has so much to offer, but ignorance and arrogance is getting in the way of creating better children … and that ignorance is not coming from the Community!)
Joe Horton
Only one school district in Oregon made the top 500 list in Newsweek. If being on the list is so important to you, take your kids to West Linn and that may make you feel better about this whole stupid issue.
RE: This stupid issue ( From Amelia )
Answer: See above under ” Why does it matter?” Or here ya go to save time: National Ranking from Newsweek has played a large part in growing our district’s size and reputation. It has been used to persuade the public, our parents and board members to trust administration and allow the expansion of our school population, the implementation of non-traditional educational practices; Imaginative Education and the creation and expansion of at least one Charter School in Corbett. When the criteria was upgraded in 2011, to look at 6 vs. 3 components of what equates to a school’s overall success, Corbett High School and Corbett Charter High School fell completely off the list, or possibly did not apply with Newsweek knowing we wouldn’t.”
Why is the ranking in Newsweek being used to compare any educational institution? There are too many variables in this ranking to make any valid conclusions in comparing schools. Are all schools evaluated or only those that apply? If they only look at schools that take the time to apply, the validity of the rankings is totally lost. Maybe West Linn was the only Oregon school that went through the process required to be included in this evaluation. How can the public draw any conclusions if we do not know how many schools were in the study? But let’s say that all schools were evaluated and only West Linn made the top 500 list. All that can concluded is that West Linn is doing well only on the items that were evaluated. Why would you feel that Corbett is doing poorly due to this arbitrary ranking? Would you feel the same for all the students that are not the very top of their class due to some criteria used to evaluate them? Are you saying that if you are not the very best at what you are doing, you are failing at what you are trying to accomplish? There is always room for improvement in any institution but that does not mean they are failing at the task.
Amelia: TOTALLY AGREE. This is one reason there is a petition to get Corbett accredited again.”Besides providing parents regular information about whether or not the school is meeting standards it also provides confidence ( and justification ) when a school and school’s programs are regularly evaluated. It ensures there is always a plan for improvement. No school is perfect and we can all work towards making things better for everyone.”
Being on a list is not important to most of us I think. It is VERY important to the school administration, however, as they use it to lure in more kids. I for one would be happy if the school just taught and cared about the students learning and not test scores.
Ms. Amelia, just like the beauty of a man or a women, it soon becomes transparent the more you find out about their lack of integrity. The ranking is what caught our eye. The surroundings made us feel at home, but it was the arrogance and the ignorance of Bob Dunton that soured the whole situation.
We wanted to leave quietly, but even when exiting, Mr. Dunton still did not cooperate with us fully. He dragged his feet getting signatures and did not take into consideration that there was a young man’s high school experience he was toying with.
Ms. Amelia, your comment was rather insensitive. Did you get “yours” and now you don’t care about anyone else or do you not understand what is happening in your school district? That is another form of ignorance. Your 3rd grade at Corbett is not doing too well and you don’t really care? There are 6th graders with reading comprehension that is substandard. That’s what the bigger problem is. I don’t think you see it … “The Emperor has new clothes” … Do you remember that story? Randi and Bob have Imaginative Learning, it goes along the same storyline. Happy Easter.